Review: Hot Toys Lt. Jim Gordon (S.W.A.T. Version) Sideshow SDCC 2012 Exclusive!

Our pals at Sideshow Collectibles had three exclusive 1/6th scale Hot Toys for SDCC 2012, my favourite of which is clearly Lt. Jim Gordon in his S.W.A.T. uniform from The Dark Knight. Jim Gordon, or Jimbo Gordo as Bruce often calls him, is portrayed by the steely eyed, take-no-crap, grizzled mega-actor Gary Oldman, who I have attempted to strip of his dignity with the following pose...

But as you can see, taking away Gary Oldman's dignity is impossible (even though Luc Besson tried really hard in The Fifth Element). The man has GRAVITAS. And that's why this 1/6th scale collectible figure is more than worthy enough for your collection.

See all this and more... after the jump!

El Professore Movie Reviews: Hollywood Cop

1987
Director: Amir Shervan
Starring: David Gosse, Julie Schoenhofer, Lincoln Kilpatrick, James Mitchum, Troy Donahue, Cameron Mitchell, Aldo Ray
* * * *

Whooo boy.

Going in, I thought I knew what to expect. I had seen director Amir Shervan's epic mess-terpiece, 'Samurai Cop' (one of the most hilarious 'bad' action films ever made) and figured he had peaked (so to speak) with that outing. So to discover that his warmup act, 'Hollywood Cop' was even more ludicrously entertaining (yet surprisingly slightly less cinematically inept) was a major discovery for me.

Full review after the jump.

Review: Jack Reacher!

Jack Reacher is a decent enough action thriller that suffers from the hubris of its miscast star. A Tom Cruise production, starring Tom Cruise, it's a vanity project that fails to convince or connect, but is entertaining to watch, sometimes in spite of its flaws, and mostly because of them. Tom Cruise knows how to put on a show, even if it's of the side/freak variety.

To find out all that I felt... join me after the jump!

The Office (UK) / The Hobbit Crossover Video!

If you are not a fan of the UK Office, 1) You can skip this one altogether, and 2) What is wrong with you? Below is a quick mash up of The Office and The Hobbit because, well they share an actor. Paper salesman Tim (Martin Freeman) grew up to become Bilbo Baggins, but some of us will never forget where he started..... at good old Wernham Hogg.

The effects in this video may not be the best quality, but from what I've heard neither are the effects in The Hobbit. Burn!

Stick around until the middle for an amazing cameo.

Jeff's Favorite Other Stuff of 2012

So I shared my music picks a few weeks ago, but that doesn't mean that my earholes were the only thing consuming this year.

That's a visual I regret.

Anyway, I liked things this year!

Review: Les Miserables!

A complete stranger to the musical, the book, musicals, and reading, I approach director Tom Hooper's 2012 adaptation of Les Miserables as a dutiful boyfriend, making up for eight years of often sketchy superhero fare. As the lights dimmed I braced myself for a three-hour all-singing trial disappointingly devoid of mutants, catwomen, warg riders or giant eagles. And yet, by the time the lights returned, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe even a convert. And I may have even had, at times, just the tiniest, most discreet, manliest bit of a cry. I was having a great time being miserable.

This is what Hugh Jackman looks like when you see him begging for cigarettes at Sydney's Redfern Station.

Although it's not all perfect. To find out what worked for me, and what didn't... join me after the jump!

Broke Video Gamer: Hotline Miami Review

I took a break from immersion into dangerously addictive worlds of MMOs this week. However, I needed something else to take up my time (and talk about for my weekly review). A friend clued me into an indie title: Hotline Miami by Dennation Games. It was on sale on Steam for half price. Five bucks for a game normally selling for ten? Sold!

When the game first loaded, my initial impression was: Oh man, what year is it? The game teleported me to the 90s and I’m turning my Sega Genesis back on. It is a 2D top-down action game set in 1989. You play the role of a hitman sent on missions to clear out entire buildings. These missions are assigned via cryptic messages on your answering machine. Then, it gets weirder....

Click for the whole review.

X-Box Live Trolling At Its Finest

Professional video game troll Normal Difficulty has put together a year end video jam-packed with his signature Call of Duty pranks. Now you might consider this trolling, especially if you were in some of the sessions, but I consider it pure entertainment.

This video is 20 minutes long and definitely peaks in the first 10. It starts off with The Commentator, his awkward pimply teen voice that sets people off instantly while blocking their path so they can't play the game, and then there's The Breather, a flawless Darth Vader impression that never stops to take a breath. And finally there is his Mickey Mouse impression with my favorite quote of the whole video.

"I'm 12 and I was born after the first 151 Pokemon... hoa ha!"

Here's the video. After just a few seconds you'll see who the real trolls are...

NSFW warning. Also, the (standard... sadly) X-Box Live gay-bashing is in full effect.

Much more (including him messing with people using a Samuel L. Jackson soundboard) at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/NormalDifficulty/videos?view=0

Review: Moleskine Hobbit & Star Wars

2013 has crept up on us like a ninja, and if you're like me and scrambling to get organised for the year ahead then you're going to love what we've got for you here. Thanks to our buddies at Nation State we'll be having a look at the very timely pocket-sized The Hobbit Notebook, and the just-as-timely-but-in-a-different-way Star Wars pocket-sized Weekly Planner, both from Moleskine.

I'll see you on the other side of this here cut.

Pre-Order Hot Toys Snake Eyes (GI JOE Retaliation) 1/6th Scale Collectible Figure!

Mildly anticipated movie sequel GI JOE Retaliation/Procrastination may have been delayed until later this year, but our good friends at Hot Toys are still keeping busy with the surprise reveal of their upcoming Snake Eyes 1/6th scale collectible figure, based on his appearance in the tardy film.

Portrayed by Ray "Darth Maul" Park, this silent, stealthy (except for the sub-machinegun) hi-tech ninja is permanently encased in a rubber tomb, punishment for drinking from the Sacred Soda Fountain of the Dragon Monkey Emperor. Okay, I don't really know anything about Snake Eyes, but I do know that he looks amazingly badass, and that Hot Toys always produces high quality work!

Eager beavers can pre-order him from our pals at Sideshow right here: 

Hot Toys G.I. Joe Sixth Scale Collectibles Snake Eyes GI JOE Retaliation Sixth Scale Figure (Hot Toys) or if you'd like to see more images and read more inaccurate commentary... join me after the jump!

The Art of Wayne Dorrington: Star Wars Iconoscopes / Pepetz / Tabletop and Classic Book Covers

In the age of Twitter, things go by real fast. So fast that if you blink, you'll miss a few hundred carefully crafted 140 character messages (including the link to this article). But thankfully I paused today to click on a link to Wil Wheaton as Jesus in a Last Supper-themed piece of high-quality fan-art.

Just a small taste. Check out the full image here.

The fan happened to be the wonderful artist Wayne Dorrington, best known for his Star Wars Iconoscopes, huge silhouette-styled images showing the events of Episodes 4-6. His style is generally very minimalistic and silhouette heavy, but then again his Princess Leia Pepetz papercraft is quite different, and very cool. So cool that I had to print and make my own. You can too, for free! 

Print your own at http://pepetz.com/season2/2012/10/15/wayne-dorrington/

I felt that I HAD to share his art, just incase you haven't seen it. Click through the jump for some of his his Books By Their Covers Series (Oh man, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!), and a massive Star Wars: A New Hope Iconoscope.

Review: The "Final" Wave of Star Wars Vintage Action Figures, Part 2: The Phantom Menace.

I feel like evoking the phrase "The Phantom Menace" is like screaming out, "HEY! DO NOT READ THIS POST!" but come on, you bitter old buggers, it's been thirteen years, give Episode One a break. Hasbro is currently producing some super fine 3 3/4 action figures, and these are some of the very last ones in their vintage look-line. I covered the Return of the Jedi figures here, and now in part two (of three) I will look at four characters from Uncle George Lucas' misunderstood cult indie classic.

Isn't somebody going to join me... after the jump?

Stryder's Favourite Comics - 12/26/2012

Happy New Year everybody!  2013...we're living in the FUTURE.  Woah.

Of course, the first comics of 2013 aren't released until TOMORROW, but we can still take a look at the last few comics of 2012!  Only 3 titles that I care about last week, but 2 of them promise big things!  Let's take a look at DC's next big crossover, "Throne of Atlantis"!

Justice League #15 - "Did Wonder Woman and Superman just catch an Aircraft Carrier?"

That's right, another major cross-over comes to the DCU as this issue marks the official beginning of the "Throne of Atlantis" story-line that's going to be running in Justice League and Aquaman for the next few months! 

It all starts as aircraft carrier U.S.S. Mabus conducts a missile test that goes horribly wrong...the missiles launch early, and inexplicably their target has been changed to a location deep under the Atlantic Ocean!  This must be sabotage, as of course, the target is Atlantis!!  This unintentional act of aggression from the surface world spurs the Atlanteans, led by Aquaman's brother Orm (aka Ocean Master) to initiate their plans for WAR.

Step one...flood the most heavily populated areas of the Eastern Seaboard, including Boston, Gotham City and Metropolis!  This gives us the opportunity to see Superman and Wonder Woman (who were having a nice date beforehand - Clark talks Diana into "trying out" the secret identity concept, with a pair of glasses and great success!) working together in the skies above Metropolis (making Lois Lane jealous, no less!)

We also get the even less-likely team-up of Batman, Mera and Aquaman in Gotham City!  Cool!  Great start to what looks to be an interesting story!

Don't forget the Shazam back-up!  Billy is starting to understand a tiny bit about what's happened to him.  His new-found adulthood is not all just being legal to buy beer and watch R rated movies...he also has to fight crime!  Too bad he's woefully unprepared to face a very pissed off Black Adam who, at least according to a magic mirror Billy encounters, is coming Shazam's way!

Part 2 of "Throne of Atlantis" in Aquaman and a Before Watchmen title to boot, after the JUMP!!

Luke's Top Ten Favourite Films of 2012!

This is the big one! My Ten Favourite Films of 2012 which are sure to piss you off just a little bit. But let me make an obligatory proviso. These are my personal favourites not necessarily the best films ever made (although a couple might be). But let me tell YOU what pisses ME off...

We are a pop culture site. We talk about all sorts of silly, fun, over-the-top genre movies. What I hate is that there are so many sites out there that spend all frigging year giving you every tiny bit of news about these big, silly, blockbuster movies BUT THEN when it's time to their end of year lists, they populate them mostly with Oscar favourites, and obscure foreign films. EVEN THOUGH THE DUMB BLOCKBUSTERS HAVE BEEN GENERATING THEIR TRAFFIC ALL YEAR!

Look, either this stuff is worth talking about it or not. I like escapism. I go to the movies to have a good time. The films that stuck with me throughout my life are silly escapist films like Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Labyrinth, and Batman. I make no apologies for that. And if you enjoy fantasy, sci-fi and comic books then my god has 2012 got you covered. 

See all the films I loved... after the jump.

Kickstart the Week: Pivit by Tyler Neylon

This game should get a mention just for it's fantastic logo, but the game looks pretty interesting as well. Pivit is an abstract game that is played on a checkerboard, using really nice little discs. The discs feature two arrows showing the direction they can move, as well as a color that shows whether they are a minion or a master. Minions can only move in the direction shown on their arrows and only to opposing color spaces on the board. Masters can move anywhere in the direction their arrows face.

It seems very basic, but a glance I can see the many, many possibilities of moves and can imagine this being the missing link between checkers and chess (neither of which have a sweet logo).

Check it out:

There is a long way to go for Pivit to hit it's lofty $50,000 goal, but there is still a few weeks. You can pledge $40 to receive the discs (along with rules, etc) to play on your existing checkerboard, and then $50 for a full boxed version with a board.

Pivit on Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/913572758/pivit

Luke's Top Ten Favourite Video Games of 2012!

It's that time of the year again when we, like every other frigging site out there, obediently pump out our obligatory Best of the Year lists for you to disdainfully roll your dull eyes at. DOESN'T THAT SOUND LIKE FUN!?

Actually it IS a hell of a lot of fun, which is why we're still excited to do it and why you've managed to read this far! And to reward your tenacity I am kicking things off with my Favourite 10 Video Games of 2012! 

Are they without a doubt the absolute best games made this year? Well... I'll do all the usual disclaimers (and provide you with the full list)... after the jump!

Review: Hot Toys Red Skull 1/6 Scale Collectible Figure!

By far my collecting highlight for 2012 has been Hot Toys brilliant, eerily realistic, 1/6th scale collectible figure line, with characters spanning from The Avengers, Batman 89, The Dark Knight Rises, and even Sucker Punch. We'll be covering a handful of recent figures over the next couple of weeks, not the least of which is 1940's Hydra super-villain the Red Skull, as portrayed by fellow Australian Hugo Weaving in Captain America: The First Avenger. Our dearest friends at Sideshow Collectibles have generously provided us with the angry, skinless Mr. Johann Schmidt and I can't wait to tell you all about him. Just look at this crimson curmudgeon!

That's one hell of a shaving accident! Find out all that the reddest of skulls has to offer... after the jump!